This blog is a collection random musings on the state of general aviation and some of the interesting stories that abound among pilots.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The Colorado crash

The mid-air collision between a Cirrus SR22 and a glider tow plane in Colorado doesn't get more graphic. We usually don't see images of midair collisions, the only other time I recall seeing one was the crash of a private plane into a PSA jet near San Diego many, many years ago.

I fly out of this airport so it definitely hit close to home. It sounds like the Cirrus descended into the tow plane from the starboard side, maybe a little from the rear. It would have been easy for the two plane to miss him if he didnt have his head on a swivel and of course that was a blind spot for the Cirrus. I agree with the traffic alert system. Also, maybe a turning descent to keep from blindly descending? Hard to learn a lesson from this one...maybe just a case of really bad luck??

Three people died, both pilots and a passenger in the Cirrus. Witnesses said that they saw the two in the Cirrus jumped to their deaths at about 500 to 750 ft. Quite tragic. Apparently the Cirrus BRS can be activated by heat, which may be why it deployed.